The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Artist's view of ESA's Mars Express probe releasing the Beagle 2 lander in its protective thermal shell upon arrival at Mars in 2003.
Mars Express was successfully launched at 17:45:46 UT on 2 June 2003 by a Soyuz FG-Fregat. The Fregat upper stage then boosted the probe, consisting of a 1223-kg orbiter carrying the 71-kg Beagle 2 lander, onto an interplanetary trajectory toward Mars. Mars Express is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars on 26 December 2003.
Carrying seven experiments, the orbiter will conduct a one-martian-year survey of the planet, providing an unprecedented high-resolution and mineralogical mapping. It will also conduct a search for underground waters using a radar able to identify subsurface structures up to 2 km deep. Moreover, a set of payloads will probe the atmosphere, map its composition and determine its circulation as well as its interaction with the solar wind.
The Beagle 2 lander will be released 5 days before orbital capture and will land on Isidis Planitia, near the equator. Once on the surface, it will determine the geology and mineral composition of the site and conduct a search for life signatures.
Europe's first planetary mission, Mars Express was approved in 1997 as ESA's first "Flexible" science mission. Development was delegated to industry, with Astrium appointed as prime contractor in 1998.